Hello Everyone,

It's been a bit of a break between my last email, but I'm starting up again - this time for good.

I'm not sure if I'll continue with my current format, or if I'll change to a different system. (not to worry, no work on your part either way.)

This is a bit of a longer newsletter - but if you just want some easy to use insights, jump to the end.

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What I've been Reading.

I have been getting through my to-be-read list, and I'll share more insights from them as time goes on. But for now, here's one key takeaway from some of the best books I've read this year.

• Skip the Line by James Altucher - There's no excuse to not be conducting more personal experiments. Keep them simple, fast, and cheap. They're a hack to improving exponentially.

• Awaken the Giant Within by Tony Robbins - All of what we do is directly correlated to the principle of pleasure and pain. Want to do something? Increase the pleasure of doing it and the pain of not doing it. Want to not do something? Decrease the pleasure of doing it and increase the pain of doing it.

• Ten Caesars by Barry Strauss - A double. First, Roman History is more entertaining than any TV show or movie. Second, Strategy and self-control can give you the world.

• The Happiest Man Alive by Eddie Jaku - We apply meaning. We decide what matters. We decide whether we can endure. We decide if we're happy.

I'm currently midway through a few books (Endless Energy, The Fall of the Roman Republic, The Boron Letters) but they're put on hold due to my current experiment.

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What I'm experimenting with.

The Total Absorption Strategy - How I'm trying to get the most out of books.

It’s no secret I love to read. Over the past two years, I’ve read 100+ books cover-to-cover. (Not including the dozens more I’ve skimmed, speed-read, or given up on.)

Yet, I find myself forgetting key lessons and failing to use things I do learn. I'm not getting as much value as I should be from these books. (I am working on a solution to this, but we'll cover it in another newsletter.)

This brings me to my current experiment: The Total Absorption Strategy.

The process of this experiment is intense by my reading standards. Compared to how most people read, it can even seem over the top, complex, or ridiculous. 

The basic goal is to consume the content in a way, which hammers the lessons into my mind and forces me into action. . The book I am using is The Adweek Copywriting Handbook by Joseph Sugarman.

Step One: Consume the book in different formats.

I have this book in physical form as well as (thanks to Scribd) audiobook and ebook.

I'm currently reading them all - the ebook in spare moments, the audiobook while I drive, and the physical book every time I sit down to read.

Step Two: Take Notes, Create Summaries, Teach, Act.

The second step is the usual - and overlaps in part with the first. While reading, I’m taking notes, actively trying to recall what I’ve been reading, and thinking on it.

I’ll move into the next step by creating summaries, teaching what I learn and lusing the notes to create a quick-reference guide. Most importantly, I'll test and act on the concepts.

Step Three: Repeat.

Thought we were done after Step Two? Not yet.

We're now in the Total Absorption loop. We go again. Consuming the content. Reviewing our notes. Teaching the concepts. And most important - ACTING.

We keep doing this until we have drained every last drop of value from the book.

I am currently still only on my first way through the book on all formats. Slowly building up notes and reflecting while I can. I’m starting to create simplistic guides to make it easy to implement and using study techniques I know will boost my recall. I’ll update again once I’ve finished this experiment.

Addressing a few objections:

1) Can’t you just read it once then just use your notes?

Reading a book is 10x more effective than reading the summary because it deepens our understanding.

This method is 10x more effective than my regular method. It not only provides a much better understanding but it also creates a deep sunk cost.

I plan to use this fallacy to my advantage. After spending dozens of hours consuming the content and building my understanding, I’ll be forced to understand it and take action. Otherwise, the sunk cost will be completely wasted.

2) Doesn’t the opportunity cost of doing this outweigh the benefits?

The time spent doing this project will add up. If I read it 5+ times and learn it as I intend, it may take up time I could have spent to read 10 other books.

The fact is, with the 10x benefit of this method, I'll take much more value from one book than ten I read normally. Especially when you consider the chance I won't take action on the other ten.

3) Why this book?

I wanted to pick a skill-based book, since it’s more tangible and easy to see the results if it works.

The skill I'm most interested in learning is Copywriting, I thought it would be best to stick to a book on the topic. This is the go-to book on Copywriting. It's recommended by authors, entrepreneurs, and others I admire.

Since my current interest in skill-acquisition is Copywriting, I thought it would be best to stick to a book on the topic. This is considered the go-to book on Copywriting. It’s recommended by authors, entrepreneurs, and others I admire.

Worst case, it will only improve my writing.

Best case, it will teach me a valuable skill capable of being influential in my projects, career, and life. All while improving my writing.

4) Isn’t this a bit over the top?

I'll be able of being able to absorb and use the strategies and lessons of people who have already succeeded.

Think about your deepest goal or desire. Odds are, someone has written a book sharing their experience of doing it or provided a playbook for how to do it. Wouldn’t you be willing to put in some “over-the-top” effort to achieve it?

Ancient Philosophers to Conclude.

As a bonus to the points above, the Total Absorption Strategy is something I think would be green-lighted by the Stoics.

Marcus Aurelius reminded himself “not to be satisfied with just getting the gist of it” when it came to his reading. Seneca wrote letters with the instructions to stick to a few great authors.

The Total Absorption Strategy checks both of those boxes. (Whether the Stoics would recommend using it to learn Copywriting is a discussion for another day.)

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Five things you can use today.

1) When editing, find all the times you use "that". You can usually cut it out and make your sentences stronger while decreasing your word count. (AdWeek Copywriting Handbook)

2) Your headline is the key to getting people's attention. Write 25 Potential Headlines for any email, article, tweet, etc. Then pick the best one. (Sam Parr)

3) When facing a difficult decision, imagine what your 85-year-old self would tell you. Pretend they've achieved what you want to and developed the traits you desire. Act accordingly. (Alex Hormozi)

4) Want to level up your writing? Try Copywork. Just pick a piece of writing and copy it out either by hand or typing. Do this for a few months and watch as your style improves.

5) Inversion Thinking is a powerful mental model. (Recommended by Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett's business partner.) It's simple but can be life-changing. Instead of asking, how can I be successful - ask, how can I be unsuccessful?

You'll get some answers and then do the opposite. E.g. if you want to be unsuccessful you should: Blame your circumstances. Worry about things outside of your control. Waste time. Stop learning. Etc.

So, just do the reverse. Take ownership of your life, don't worry about things outside of your control, be productive, and always keep learning.

You can apply this mental model to anything.

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That's all folks.

I'll be back in your inbox next week with more insights, advice, and things I've learned.

Let me know how I can make the newsletter more valuable to you and what you found most interesting.